Tanks may be used for a variety of purposes with tractors, including storage of fuel, chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, and the like. Because large amounts of fuel or chemicals may be used during agricultural processes, it is desirable to allow for the mounting of large tanks to tractors so that the tractor operator will be able to more efficiently accomplish a task.
Several types of brackets and mounting systems are available to mount tanks to tractors. Typical tank mounting systems attach tanks to the side frame of the tractor so that the tanks are mounted substantially near the front axle and tires of the tractor. U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,934, issued to Chambers et al. on May 1, 1956, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,734, issued to Sylvester on Apr. 17, 1979, disclose such tractor tank mounting apparatuses. U.S. Pat. No. 3,311,183, issued to Phillips, discloses another tractor tank mounting apparatus that does not mount tanks to tractors in the most feasible manner.
Most prior art tank mounting devices, as noted above, mount the tanks substantially near the front axle and tires of the tractor so that the majority or a substantial portion of the weight of the tanks rests on the front axle and tires of the tractor. Several problems result from mounting tanks in such a manner. The front tires of tractors, which are typically much smaller than the rear tires, are not designed to carry as much weight as the rear tires. The typical placement of tanks near the front axle, therefore, places an undue amount of weight on the front axle and tires of the tractor. Not only does this increase the chance of malfunction of the front tires and axle, but it limits the size of the tanks that may be mounted to the tractor. If large tanks are mounted to the side of the tractor, tire manufacturer and tractor manufacturer maximum weight recommendations may well be exceeded.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,870 issued to Mulder et al. on Sep. 11, 2001 ('870) discloses a tractor tank mounting apparatus wherein a tank is mounted so that a substantial portion of the weight of the tank rests on the rear axle and tires of the tractor, so that a sufficiently large tank may be mounted to the tractor to aid in the efficiency of tractor operation. The '870 patent discloses horizontally inserting a spindle into a support frame and manually aligning the support frame with the spindle.
A need still exists for a tractor tank mounting apparatus and process that significantly reduces the difficulties associated with mounting rear tractor axle mounted tanks. The traditional tank mounting apparatus are difficult to align and must be supported during mounting.